She has written books, articles, and essays that analyze the human side of the world of computer programming.
She has owned a consulting firm and worked as technology commentator for NPR's All Things Considered.
Ullman's adoptive father's family included computer scientists and mathematicians who had a major impact on her decision to pursue software engineering, a field for which she did "not have native talent.
[2] She began working professionally in 1978 as a programmer of electronic data interchange applications and graphical user interfaces.
From 1994 until 1996, she published articles in Harper's Magazine and in the collections Resisting the Virtual Life and Wired Women.